“Rimminy-Romminy-Reet” spell

The “Rimminy-Romminy-Reet” spell is a corrective incantation used to end Jo’s upside-down condition. Its decisive importance lies in the way it makes bodily orientation the substance of the cure: the witch does not simply turn Jo over by force, but gives his feet a desire to walk, so that the spell’s words compel him to regain the proper posture through movement.

Nature and Wording

The spell consists of a short, rhyming sequence whose opening line gives the expression its canonical name: “Rimminy-Romminy-Reet,” followed by the command, “Stand on your own two feet!” The second pair changes the ending sound while preserving the chant’s nursery-rhyme rhythm: “Rimminy-Romminy-Ro,” and then, “The right way up you must go!” The repeated nonsense syllables make the incantation memorable and playful, while the plain commands supply its exact magical purpose.

The wording joins sound and instruction unusually closely. The first command names the physical basis of uprightness, and the second states the desired correction in direct terms. Rather than concealing the spell’s operation behind obscure symbolism, the rhyme announces what must happen: Jo must stand on two feet and go the right way up. The incantation therefore works both as a magical formula and as a verbal miniature of the transformation it produces.

Application by the Witch

Jo and his companions enter a shop where a witch is knitting stockings from the green smoke rising from her fire. Silky politely explains that the group wants their friend to come the right way up again. The witch regards Jo kindly and identifies the remedy as simple: she needs only to rub a Walking-Spell onto the soles of his feet.

The witch’s explanation establishes the spell’s mechanism. The Walking-Spell makes Jo’s feet want to walk, and because walking requires him to stand in the proper position, the bodily impulse itself will cure him. The remedy is consequently administered through the feet rather than the head, torso, or surrounding environment. Its placement also gives the spell a practical logic: the soles are the part of the body that ordinarily meet the ground, so restoring their normal function restores Jo’s relationship with gravity and direction.

Jo approaches the witch on his hands, a concrete demonstration of the disorder the spell must correct. She takes a jar from a shelf, opens it, and rubs purple ointment onto the soles of his shoes. The chant follows immediately, making the ointment and the spoken formula parts of one operation. The magical action is thus assembled from a prepared substance, the witch’s touch, the words of the incantation, and Jo’s own compelled movement.

Reversal of Jo’s Condition

The spell produces an immediate reversal. Jo swings right over, stands again on his two feet, and becomes upright like Moon-Face and Silky. The change is not gradual and does not require a second treatment or further instruction. The very condition that had forced him to move on his hands is overturned by an intensified urge to use his feet.

This reversal gives the expression a clear narrative function. Jo’s upside-down state has made ordinary movement impossible and has marked him as physically out of alignment with his companions. The Walking-Spell restores both mobility and visual normality at once. His posture changes from inverted to upright, and his emotional state changes with it: the narration emphasizes how glad he is when the cure succeeds.

The episode also confirms that the spell is effective because its command is enacted rather than merely heard. Jo does not remain still while magic rearranges him; he swings over and stands. The outcome turns the rhyme’s imperative into visible action, so that “Stand on your own two feet!” is simultaneously a line of verse, a magical instruction, and the exact movement that resolves the scene.

Function and Significance

The “Rimminy-Romminy-Reet” spell belongs to the playful corrective magic of the story. Its danger is absent from the encounter with the witch: unlike the angry goblin who threatens to turn Moon-Face into a bouncing ball or a black beetle, this witch offers a kindly and precise cure. The contrast presents magic as capable of both arbitrary punishment and helpful repair, depending on the practitioner and the manner in which the request is made.

Silky’s politeness is important to the spell’s successful use. After Moon-Face has angered the first goblin by calling the spells silly, Silky pulls him from the shop and warns that rude behavior may bring another transformation. She then speaks courteously to the witch, who responds by giving the children the remedy they need. The incantation therefore appears within a small sequence in which social conduct affects access to magical assistance.

The expression also resolves the episode through a compact value shift: Jo moves from helpless inversion to independent standing, from abnormal motion to restored freedom of movement, and from distress to relief. Its rhyme keeps the moment light, but its structure is exact. A bodily problem is named, a substance is applied to the relevant part, an instruction is spoken, and the commanded action brings the cure. The spell’s lasting significance comes from this fusion of comic sound and functional precision: the nonsense phrase opens the magic, while the ordinary image of standing on one’s own feet completes it.